OTTAWA – Glassbox co-CEO Raja Khanna was nearly at a loss for words Wednesday after hearing that the CRTC had turned down his company’s request for a new French-language Category 2 station dedicated to new musical artists, thanks in large part to objections from incumbent MusiquePlus.
“I’m shocked… really surprised”, he told Cartt.ca. “(The decision) is very, very surprising and I don’t understand what happened. It’s a blow to the Quebec emerging music scene.”
And at least one CRTC Commissioner agreed with him. Wednesday’s ruling was followed by a lengthy dissenting opinion by Commissioner Michel Morin who called the decision “both surprising and deeply disappointing”.
Glassbox, which also operates Bite TV and an English-language version of AUX TV that launched in November 2008, proposed that the French AUX TV offer programming devoted to “emerging music and its creation, including programming intended to help emerging artists”.
But Astral-owned MusiquePlus Inc. expressed concern that the new service could be directly competitive with its service and other existing services, particularly those serving a smaller French-language market.
And despite admitting that “a proposal to offer an outlet for French-language emerging artists would surely have a positive impact in the current market conditions”, the Commission sided with MusiquePlus, saying that Glassbox failed to demonstrate that its proposed service would not be directly competitive with an existing Category 1, analog, pay or specialty TV service.
“The Commission’s overly cautious decision, rooted in its concern over the competition Groupe Astral would face, fails to mention that neither of the specialty services MusiquePlus and MusiMax in Quebec – both owned by Groupe Astral – is dedicated to emerging music”, Morin’s dissention reads.
He went on to detail the history of the now 24 year old MusiquePlus, including its shift away from music programming to reality programming, and used programming descriptions taken directly from the station’s website to demonstrate its lack of focus on emerging music.
Unlike Glassbox’s application, which Morin described as very clear on its definitions of emerging music and the type of programming that it would air.
“The company stuck to very precise definitions and guidelines, the likes of which had never been seen before, to determine what emerging music means”, he continued. “It was an unprecedented initiative for a specialty service that the Commission should have given its nod to instead of leaving it to hover in doubt as it does in this decision.”
Khanna said that he appreciated Commissioner Morin’s detailed dissent, “every line of which I agree with”.
He emphasized that AUX’s programming would have a very different look and feel than any existing music station, offering up the English version of the channel as an example of where viewers can enjoy “an incredible amount of great new music, including a ton of emerging Canadians”.
“I don’t see what the downside was for anyone”, he continued. “If we said we were going to be playing those reality shows, then I could see they’d be worried about competition, but we’re not. We wouldn’t be asking for this license if we thought it was already covered. And it’s not.”
Glassbox may be down, but they’re definitely not out, Khanna said.
“We intend on going back to (the Commission) again. We won’t let this one lie”, he added. “We’re set back by basically a year, assuming we can get approval next time.”
